Underestimate the girl
by sparklyturtle
Summary: On the morning of November 1st, the Daily Prophet was plastered with the news of the Dark Lord's death. The news travelled fast, and within an hour the entire wizarding world was celebrating their new freedom, the safety following the death of a tyrant. "The Girl Who Lived," Remus muttered to himself. "What'll happen to her now?" [Golden Trio Rule 63]
1. Another head aches, another heart breaks

On the morning of November 1st, the Daily Prophet was plastered with the news of the Dark Lord's death. The news travelled fast, and within an hour the entire wizarding world was celebrating their new freedom, the safety following the death of a tyrant.

Amid this joy, Remus Lupin sat in the back of the Leaky Cauldron, firewhisky in one shaking hand. By now, Dumbledore had already been and explained the situation, but it was impossible to believe, impossible to even imagine that the world was now absent of both James and Lily. Remus' throat was raw, his eyes red as he sat oblivious to the celebrations and cheering surrounding him. Just yesterday, he had seen his friends, had held their baby in his arms, and now they were gone.

He hadn't been able to contact Sirius yet, but then again, they hadn't spoken in quite some time, with Sirius having deemed Remus a traitor and hiding himself away from the Order. Remus shook his head; he dreaded to think what reaction Sirius would have, how badly this would break him. He thought of James' little Mia, a small baby completely unaware of what was happening to her, unaware of the sudden fame.

"The Girl Who Lived," Remus muttered though himself. "What'll happen to her now?"

Lifting his glass to his lips, he took the final swig of his drink before the door flew open as a pair of yelling, dishevelled wizards barrelled through the door.

"Black's a murderer!" one of them cried, grabbing the arms of a poor patron near the entrance. "A Death Eater!"

Remus' head whipped around, rising to his feet and edging closer towards the commotion.

"What are you talking about, mate?" the barman asked, raising at eyebrow at the strange man. "Sit down and have a drink, you should be celebrating-"

"Sirius Black!" the other man yelled, his eyes wide. "He's a murderer!"

"He's murdered Peter Pettigrew and a load of muggles," the first wizard shook his head, his voice weak. "No reason for it, he just _did it_."

The pub broke into questions and yelling, but Remus' head reeled as he staggered backwards. He couldn't believe it. It wasn't possible that Sirius would have done such a thing, especially not after James and Lily.

Poor Peter.

Remus' eyes filled with tears. Poor, innocent Peter. What did Sirius think he was doing-

What about Mia? Remus had assumed Sirius would take her, being her godfather, but what on heard would happen to the poor darling now? James' parents weren't long dead, and he was vaguely aware that Lily had a sister somewhere but as far as he knew they didn't speak, so where did that leave?

Steadying his feet, Remus blinked to refocus and apparated. Dumbledore would know what to do.


	2. Don't even know your power

Petunia Dursley hammered on the door of the cupboard under the stairs, causing her niece to jolt out of her bed and straight into a low-hanging web. Then again, this time yelling through the slits in the door. "Up _now_ ," she cried, still hitting the door. "Duddy needs his breakfast!"

Mia Potter pulled the lumps of web out of her shaggy hair with one hand, the other reaching for the bottle-bottomed glasses which sat on the floor. She'd been having a dream, a nice dream, something about a flying motorbi-

" _Now!"_

She sighed, pulling an oversized pair of jeans and a ratty shirt from the bottom of her bed. With a tug at the worn belt around her scrawny waist, Mia stepped out of her dark cupboard into the pristine hallway. The smell of bacon was wafting from the kitchen, but she knew better than to get her hopes up.

Today was Dudley Day, and with it came a warning: don't do anything to mess it up.

The kitchen door nearly wouldn't open at first, but Mia's fears that it'd mean another thing for her to be blamed for quickly disappeared as she quickly realised the way was blocked by presents. Piles and piles of perfectly-wrapped, completely oversized were stacked throughout the kitchen, save for a small pathway to the cooker, where Aunt Petunia stood expectantly holding out a spatula. Quickly taking over her cousin's birthday breakfast, Mia nearly missed Uncle Vernon - a first - amid the gifts with his walrus moustache covering his frowning face. He looked up from his newspaper, catching Mia staring absentmindedly at him, and with a huff his face began to turn a deep purple.

He opened his mouth and reeled back to yell, but before he could speak the hall door flew open and, with a cheer, Dudley was ushered into the kitchen. Mia rolled her eyes and turned back to the bacon and eggs - it was more interesting than her blonde pig of a cousin.

Aunt Petunia was cooing at her son, unaware of the storm brewing on his face as Mia struggled to find space for the plates in gaps between presents. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of flared nostrils and narrowing eyes. It took all of her strength to not scream for she knew the meltdown to come. Perhaps his new TV wasn't quite expensive enough, or maybe the wrapping paper was the wrong colour or maybe-

"There's only thirty-six."

Of course.

Madness ensued for over an hour, with screaming and cheering and presents galore.

Mia hid in the corner as her cousin tore paper from his gifts, having received a second TV, a brand new computer and a racing bike. When she thought about it, Mia couldn't understand why Dudley should want a racing bike as he was very fat and hated exercise, unless it involved chasing and persecuting some poor unfortunate. He'd never hit Mia, mainly because he would never catch her, but also because she was a girl. She could only dread the day he realised no one would care if he did catch her.

He'd broken her glasses six months ago- an _accidental_ football to the face which broke them straight in two, but Mia had been handed a roll of duct tape for her glasses and a bag of frozen peas for her busted nose and that was that.

Aunt Petunia had disappeared into the hallway at some point with a phone call, and had suddenly reemerged, ash-faced. Throwing a glare at Mia in the corner - she was supposed to be on standby in case Dudders wanted anything - Petunia's face fell as she turned to her husband.

"Mrs Figg's broken her leg, she can't take her."

"We could call Marge?"

"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the child."

"What about-"

"No, she's in Majorca."

"And-"

"There's no choice, Vernon," Petunia sighed, shaking her head.

Mia noticed Dudley's face scrunching up to her left, along with the bubbling excitement deep in her stomach. The former she ignored, the latter she tried to control.

"Alright," Vernon sighed as Dudley began to wail. "But she stays in the car."

Aside from having to share the backseat with Dudley and his insufferable right-hand-man, Piers Polkiss, Mia quite enjoyed her journey to the zoo. A motorbike had zoomed past them at one stage, and she'd been able to relive her dream of a flying motorbike.

They arrived safe and sound, Dudley and Piers immediately running off with thoughts of lions, elephants, and ice cream. Mia sat soundly in the car as Uncle Vernon frowned in the window at her, noticing a few concerned mothers passing by, confused as to why the child remained.

"C'mon, out," he grunted, throwing the door open for her. "People are staring."

With another huff and grunt, he paid for her admittance, and soon Mia found herself in the middle of the reptile house. She scarcely believed her luck as her uncle once more abandoned her in favour of Petunia, who stood admiring her son from a short distance away. It wasn't often Mia was brought out. In fact, aside from for school she couldn't remember when she was last brought anywhere. She was often met with the excuse that 'strange things' happened around her, but aside from accidentally turning a teacher's hair blue once, she couldn't really figure what her aunt and uncle had meant. She scratched that back of her neck as she thought, feeling soft hairs against her fingers. Her hair had been chopped short only last week, courtesy of her aunt and the kitchen scissors. Surely it couldn't have grown that much already?

Mia glanced around the room of glass cases, seeing Dudley and his friend persecuting some poor Burmese snake. Dudley pounded once, twice, three times on the glass, yelling at the poor creature to move.

"He's boring," he groaned to a nodding Piers, who was eyeing a small boy at another exhibit. The poor boy was asthmatic, taking a moment to catch his breath before joining his family. Piers' specialty was breaking inhalers, Mia recalled, and it was a talent he was very proud of.

The two slinked off after their new prey, and Mia made her way to the snake Dudley had been harassing. She leaned against the railing and sighed, her breath fogging up the glass.

"Sorry about him," she said quietly to the snake, who lay with its head down on the ground. "He doesn't understand what it's like to be stuck doing the same thing everyday, does he?

"Can you understand me?" she whispered, swearing she'd seen the snake bob its head up and down, as if nodding in agreement. "Sorry, just, I've never really spoken to a snake before."

The boa constrictor held eye contact, drawing Mia in, even if this was only a figment of her imagination. "You're from Burma, aren't you?" she asked, leaning in a bit further. "Is it nice there?"

The snake shook its head, gesturing to a sign which read " _BRED IN CAPTIVITY"_. Mia nodded apologetically. "Me too," she shrugged. "I never knew my parents eith-"

Without warning, she was on the floor, her glasses thrown away from her head. Blind as she was, she could still make out the shape of a blonde pig gawking at her snake, and heard the cries of "Mummy! Daddy! Come look, I made the snake move!" as she fixed her spectacles back in place.

Mia felt something fiery inside as she glared at her cousin. It happened in an instant, though. One moment, Dudley was standing banging on the glass, the next he was landing in the pond of the snake's display as it made its escape out of the display. She was at a loss for words, but couldn't help bursting out laughing as the snake slithered past. She was certain it said " _Thanksss_ " as it went, to which she could only reply "Any time!", although she wasn't sure what exactly she'd done to help.

Dudley stood up in the tank and tried to get out, but somehow the glass had reappeared. As a bewildered Piers and a screaming Petunia hit the glass, he burst into tears once more. From her spot on the ground, Mia could feel Uncle Vernon's eyes boring into her head.

" _You_ ," he growled, raising one sausage finger at the young girl. "You did this!"

Before she had the chance to answer or defend herself, Mia had been punished for no real reason, and it was all she could do not to cry on the journey back to Privet Drive.

A week without a meal seems like a torturous punishment, but it was one so common for the occupant of the Cupboard Under the Stairs she scarcely noticed it go by.

By the time Mia was released from her punishment, the summer holidays had arrived, but all this meant was more time spent avoiding Dudley and his gang. She'd found wandering around Privet Drive to be a worthwhile endeavour, for her cousin seemed to prefer the local park for his attacks. So Mia found herself spending her days strolling through her estate, and helping Mrs Figg water her cabbages and feed her cats. There were worse things to do.

The first interesting event came one morning as, like always, Mia was preparing breakfast as the mail was jammed through the letterbox. She moved without being asked, darting to the front door. Only three letters this morning; a bill, a postcard of the Isle of Wight from Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge, which Mia regarded with disdain, and finally a letter addressed in green cursive:

 _Miss E Potter,_

 _The Cupboard Under the Stairs,_

 _4, Privet Drive,_

 _Little Whinging,_

 _Surrey_

Her brow furrowed as she realised it was hers. She never got letters, and who knew her proper name outside of the Dursleys? She knew they wouldn't approve, regardless, and so threw it into her cupboard on her way back to the kitchen for a later time.

Mia handed her uncle the other two letters before resuming the breakfast. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she emptied the kettle into the teapot, her mind spinning with millions of reasons why she had a letter. Maybe it was someone from her dad's side of the family, saying they were coming to rescue her. Maybe it was a letter saying there'd been a mistake, and her parents were really alive and being sent to the Dursley's had been a result of some paperwork error. She held these thoughts tight to her heart and quickly excused herself to go read the letter.

She sat on her cramped bed, the letter in her shaking hands as the door stood half-ajar to let a bit of light in for reading. She ran a finger over the careful writing on the envelope, hovering over _Cupboard Under the Stairs_. How could anyone have known that? She flipped it over, revealing the bright red wax seal, stamped with a large crest. At the centre was a large _H_ , surrounded by a lion, a snake, a badger and a bird - an eagle, she guessed. Her hands gently touched the small animals, but before she could open it, the door flew open, presenting a sunburned Dudley glaring in at her.

"What's that?" he cried, staring at the letter in her hands.

The two cousins met eyes for a split second before Dudley lunged forward, pulling the envelope out of Mia's hands.

"That's _mine!"_ she yelled, darting out as he sprinted towards the kitchen. "Dudley, give it _back!"_

"Mia got a letter!" he proclaimed, waving it in front of his father's moustache. Uncle Vernon grabbed it, glaring at Mia as she stood in the doorway. He flipped it over, his eyes widening as he saw the stamp.

"What is it?" Petunia asked warily from the other end of the table. "Vernon?"

He held it up in one hand for her to see, Dudley and Mia exchanging a confused glance as Petunia's face crumpled and her mouth fell open.

"It's _my_ letter!" Mia cried. "You can't just take it, there's laws against that!"

"Out of the kitchen," Vernon said without delay. Dudley stuck his tongue out at a raging Mia, but was startled as his father nodded for him to do the same. The two were pushed out into the hallway, where Dudley pushed her aside to peek through the keyhole. Mia rolled her eyes, glancing through the gap under the door instead. The adults were speaking too quietly for them to hear a word, and after a while they both gave up, Dudley returning to his room and Mia retreating back into her cupboard.

Eventually, Uncle Vernon yanked Mia's door open. She sprung up, hand out to receive what was rightfully hers.

"The letter's been burned," he proclaimed, half-smiling at her dismayed face. "But we've decided you should move."

"Move?" Mia cried in shock. "I'm too young to live on my own-"

"Move upstairs, idiot," Vernon sighed, narrowing his eyes at her. "You can have Dudley's second room." And with that he left.

Mia was startled. Dudley's second room served as a home for all the toys and tools he no longer bothered with. It was a third the size of his room, and located on the dark side of the house, but it was far more than Mia had ever been given. It didn't take her long to get upstairs. After all, she only had a few bits of clothes to move. She would've rathered have her letter than the room, though.

Her aunt and uncle seem happier then, despite Dudley's protests. The following morning, he appeared with the post, announcing that there was another letter for Mia, this time to _The Smallest Bedroom_. Again, before she could get anywhere near it, Aunt Petunia took it and tore it into a million tiny pieces.

Mia was filled with determination to read her letter by this stage, and decided to wake early to catch the post before anyone else the next morning. However, it appeared her uncle had had the exact same idea, which she discovered as she almost stood on him at the bottom of the stairs.

Every morning, more and more letters, each day doubling in quantity until the point that Aunt Petunia finds some as she takes eggs out of the fridge. Uncle Vernon resorts to nailing the postbox shut. Still they don't stop, and soon the front room is flooded with thousands of the same letters, flowing in from the chimney or dropped by random owls throughout the day. Mia never gets to read her letter, but it warms her heart to see someone wants to contact her so badly.

"That's it!" Uncle Vernon screamed. "We're leaving!"

Within ten minutes, the family were packed into the car and gone. They arrived at a groggy hotel on the edge of the city, but still letters arrived for the young girl. They travelled from place to place, day after day, to the point that Mia could see her uncle's face becoming more puce by the day.

Finally, Uncle Vernon drove them to a small port, where a narrow boat sat to take them to a strange house on an island. It was late when they arrived, so, despite concerns that Vernon was going mad, the Dursleys went to bed; Vernon and Petunia in the bed upstairs and Dudley on the sofa. Mia, naturally, slept on the floor.

A storm raged around them throughout the night, preventing Mia from getting a moment's rest. She watched the minutes count down on her watch, waiting for her eleventh birthday to arrive.

"Three… two…. One," she whispered to herself, smiling as the hands hit twelve.

 _BANG!_

She jumped in her place as Dudley jolted awake.

"What was that?" he murmured, groggy from sleep.

 _BANG BANG BANG!_

Both were too afraid to speak as they heard the adults making their way downstairs. Something was outside, and it wanted to get in.


End file.
